Cinema Junkie by Beth Accomando

Shakespeare wrote that As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods, they kill us for their sport. This sums up the bleak view of mans existence that the Bard presented in King Lear. The late Japanese director Akira Kurosawa created the perfect cinematic visualization of this view in his free adaptation of King Lear, which he called Ran. Ran, which is the Japanese word for chaos, transfers the pre-dawn British drama to feudal Japan and with spectacular results. Originally made in 1985, the film is being released for a limited run at the Ken Cinema beginning 11/10.